Julio Torres brings his immigration odyssey to the big screen

A24’s Problemista is a wacky and entertaining look into art and immigration.

By Kaia Mann, Opinion Editor

Problemista (2024)

(L-R) Julio Torres Credit: Jon Pack

From the comedian behind the eccentric SNL skits, “Wells for Boys” and “The Actress,” comes the surrealist comedy Problemista.

The new film from the acclaimed company A24 follows Alejandro, an El Salvadoran immigrant, dreaming of becoming a toy designer in his race to get a work visa. While the description may seem cut-and-dry, the movie is nothing but. Full of colorful characters and wacky cut-away scenes, Problemista is one of the most interesting movies out in theaters. 

Julio Torres who wrote, directed, produced and stars in the film, has been in the entertainment industry for over 12 years. Torres is the co-creator of the HBO comedy Los Espookys and is behind some of SNL’s most iconic skits and has worked as a prolific stand-up comedian in New York. 

“Sometimes I feel like a one trick pony. I think that I am a very idea first, medium second kind of person,” said Torres at a college roundtable recently hosted by A24. “I'll just start pouring and see when I have to stop.”

While Torres is great, a real standout of the film is Tilda Swinton who plays Elizabeth. Swinton is a seasoned and award winning actor in both blockbuster and independent films. In Problemista, her character is scary and threatening, but intriguing, especially for Alejandro. You may not expect Swinton to star in a low-budget feature debut, but she fits right in. 

“Tilda brings the physicality that is like that of any other actor,” said Torres. “Working with her was just so joyous and so happy and so not intimidating.”

The movie is full of color and off-the-wall jokes. The online advertisement company Craigslist is personified into an omniscient operatic god, Bank of America is one of the movie's main villains, and characters are frozen to someday live in the future. Bursting with life, Problemista sometimes feels void of a true vision or path, yet has a real unexpected heart in the center of it. 

This film is about art and artists. How humans have the desire to create, yet face countless systemic obstacles. Presented as a never-ending yet time-sensitive maze, the process of getting a work visa and navigating the U.S. immigration system takes Alejandro on an outlandish odyssey. He works a series of random and often demanding jobs sweeping him throughout the city and forcing him to confront difficult and unconventional people.  

“Immigration feels like it's this silent, baseless, gloom that just sort of  hovers over you and when the time stops, there's no explosion,” Torres said.  “It's just you know that you're out of time and now what.”

Problemista is almost stuffed too full, but in a way that is the beauty of it. The sheer quantity of ideas can be overpowering, but the message of struggle and perseverance shines through. Torres is quickly garnering a cult following and will most likely have many more chances to tell all of the stories in his head. It is exciting to think of what will come next. 

“I have this joy for making work that you're interested in doing that brings you joy,” Torres said.  “Maybe people will like it; maybe people won’t, but that's not the point. If getting success is what you're chasing after, then I think that's a different lane.”